Overview
Recent Developments
The Overview section of this report highlights recent developments in the operations of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy tools and presents data describing changes in the assets, liabilities, and total capital of the Federal Reserve System as of July 26, 2017.
Federal Reserve Announces New Collateral Margins
- On June 1, 2017, the Federal Reserve announced new collateral margins for discount window lending and payment system risk purposes. The new margins are part of the Federal Reserve's continuing efforts to ensure effective risk-management policies and procedures in its lending programs to depository institutions. The changes, which were effective on July 3, 2017, stem from the most recent review of margins and valuation practices that the Federal Reserve periodically conducts, as well as the incorporation of updated market data. Additional information is available at www.frbdiscountwindow.org.
Federal Reserve Board Publishes Quarterly Financial Report
- On August 18, 2017, the Federal Reserve System published the "Federal Reserve Banks Combined Quarterly Financial Report" for the second quarter of 2017, which includes summary information on the combined financial position and results of operations of the 12 Reserve Banks. All financial information included in the report is unaudited. The report is available on the Federal Reserve Board's website at www.federalreserve.gov/aboutthefed/combined-quarterly-financial-reports-unaudited.htm.
Federal Reserve System Selected Assets, Liabilities, and Total Capital
Table 1 reports selected assets and liabilities and total capital of the Federal Reserve System and presents the change in these components over selected intervals. The Federal Reserve publishes its complete balance sheet each week in the H.4.1 statistical release, "Factors Affecting Reserve Balances of Depository Institutions and Condition Statement of Federal Reserve Banks," available at www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h41/.
Figure 1 displays the levels of selected Federal Reserve assets and liabilities, securities holdings, and credit extended through liquidity facilities since April 2010.
Table 1. Assets, liabilities, and capital of the Federal Reserve System
Billions of dollars
| Item | Current July 26, 2017 |
Change from April 26, 2017 |
Change from July 27, 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total assets | 4,465 | -5 | 1 |
| Selected assets | |||
| Securities held outright | 4,242 | -3 | 16 |
| U.S. Treasury securities1 | 2,465 | +* | 2 |
| Federal agency debt securities 1 | 8 | -4 | -14 |
| Mortgage-backed securities2 | 1,769 | -* | 28 |
| Memo: Overnight securities lending 3 | 22 | 2 | -* |
| Memo: Net commitments to purchase mortgage-backed securities 4 | 19 | -2 | -12 |
| Unamortized premiums on securities held outright5 | 165 | -3 | -15 |
| Unamortized discounts on securities held outright 5 | -15 | +* | 1 |
| Lending to depository institutions 6 | * | +* | -* |
| Central bank liquidity swaps7 | * | +* | -* |
| Net portfolio holdings of Maiden Lane LLC8 | 2 | +* | +* |
| Foreign currency denominated assets 9 | 21 | 1 | +* |
| Total liabilities | 4,424 | -5 | +* |
| Selected liabilities | |||
| Federal Reserve notes in circulation | 1,515 | 19 | 98 |
| Reverse repurchase agreements10 | 344 | -19 | 35 |
| Foreign official and international accounts 10 | 240 | -* | -1 |
| Others 10 | 103 | -19 | 36 |
| Term deposits held by depository institutions | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other deposits held by depository institutions | 2,294 | 93 | -39 |
| U.S. Treasury, General Account | 184 | -87 | -133 |
| Other deposits 11 | 77 | -10 | 39 |
| Total capital | 41 | +* | 1 |
Note: Unaudited. Components may not sum to totals because of rounding.
* Less than $500 million.
1. Face value. Return to table
2. Guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae. The current face value shown is the remaining principal balance of the securities. Return to table
3. Securities loans under the overnight facility are off-balance-sheet transactions. These loans are shown here as a memo item to indicate the portion of securities held outright that have been lent through this program. Return to table
4. Current face value. Includes commitments associated with outright purchases, dollar rolls, and coupon swaps. Return to table
5. Reflects the premium or discount, which is the difference between the purchase price and the face value of the securities that has not been amortized. For U.S. Treasury securities, federal agency debt securities, and mortgage-backed securities, amortization is on an effective-interest basis. Return to table
6. Total of primary, secondary, and seasonal credit. Return to table
7. Dollar value of the foreign currency held under these agreements valued at the exchange rate to be used when the foreign currency is returned to the foreign central bank. This exchange rate equals the market exchange rate used when the foreign currency was acquired from the foreign central bank. Return to table
8. Fair value, reflecting values as of June 30, 2017. Fair value reflects an estimate of the price that would be received upon selling an asset if the transaction were to be conducted in an orderly market on the measurement date. Fair values are updated quarterly. Return to table
9. Revalued daily at current foreign currency exchange rates. Return to table
10. Cash value of agreements, which are collateralized by U.S. Treasury securities, federal agency debt securities, and mortgage-backed securities. Return to table
11. Includes deposits held at the Reserve Banks by international and multilateral organizations, government-sponsored enterprises, and designated financial market utilities. Also includes certain deposit accounts other than the U.S. Treasury, General Account, for services provided by the Reserve Banks as fiscal agents of the United States. Return to table
Figure 1. Credit and liquidity programs and the Federal Reserve's balance sheet
